Samaahmadian ethical issues in technology
Consider this: Until the early 1990s, most cell phones were too big for pockets. Movies were unavailable on DVD until 1997. Google didn’t arrive until 1998. There was no MySpace until 2003, and YouTube launched two years after that. As technology advances, the definition of technology literacy changes. In 1980, it meant knowing how to program code. In 1995, it meant knowing how to work basic tools like word processing and spreadsheets. Now the definition of technology literacy is much richer and more complex because there is more information available than ever before. And the tools for finding, using and creating information are rapidly becoming more diverse and sophisticated. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) defines technology literacy as the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to: Communicate Solve problems Access, manage, integrate, evaluate, design and create information to improve learning in all subject area Acquire lifelong knowledge and skills in the 21st century Print this section. Technology literacy requires students to demonstrate new skills and knowledge. In 2007, CDE rolled out technology literacy standards for students. These standards slightly modify the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) national education technology standards to include design as an aspect of critical thinking and problem-solving. ISTE national education technology standards Creativity and innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology Communication and collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Research and information fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information. Critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making Students use critical-thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Digital citizenship Students understand human, cultural and societal issues related to technology, and practice legal and ethical behavior. Technology operations and concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations In 2013, the federal NCLB law will require that schools ensure students are technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. And in December 2009, the Colorado state board of education will adopt new P-12 state academic standards – replacing the 1994 model content standards and incorporating elements of technology literacy throughout. Recent, dramatic shifts in our culture require today’s students to become skilled adults who can process large amounts of information and identify, define and solve problems. They will need to develop innovative ideas using technology and manage their own productivity. Communicating and working collaboratively with others around the world also will be important. To thrive as our future workforce, students must become entrepreneurs now – while they are in school. Internationally recognized expert Alan November says schools need “fearless learners” and “courageous teachers” who do not settle for narrow rules and dated schools. He says the broader role of educators is to help students manage their own experiences, including: Managing their time Designing their own homework Co-creating assessments of their work Continuously extending their collaborative work around the globe Today’s students need technology literacy skills now. Their success and ours depend on it. Former American Association of School Librarians (AASL) President Dawn Vaughn says the world students live in is very different than the one they learn in. "Students live in a multimedia world," she says. "Without pushing them forward, public schools are going to end up with an irrelevant curriculum." Vaughn’s comments were featured in Threshold magazine, along with remarks from other notable panelists such as Milton Chen, the executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Chen says students increasingly will find and assess information on their own. They also will produce information in multimedia formats. "It means the teacher has to play a different role," he says. "It means that the entire structure around those students has to be different." Increased emphasis on technology literacy has major implications for classrooms, including how teachers teach and how students learn. How teachers teach: For starters, November says teachers need to move away from a less collaborative and more isolating style of teaching (“this is my classroom, and these are my students”) to one where the entire faculty is networked and available 24 hours a day to the entire learning community. He suggests at a minimum that every teacher should publish the following information on the school’s Web page: Frequently asked questions from parents Goals for every course Examples of students’ work Recommended homework assignments for the entire year Connections to other Web sites that support learning Action research projects How students learn: Begin to think differently about how students learn. Consider incorporating elements of technology literacy into every subject. To better integrate technology literacy into classrooms, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Web site provides examples of how to include technology literacy into core subjects. Check out the organization’s information and communication technology literacy maps for specifics. Some examples: Fourth-grade English Use Internet bookmarks to locate and select interesting and accurate information about endangered animals, and then create a scavenger hunt for classmates. Fourth-grade math Gather data, such as taking surveys of the school or community, and create graphs to display the information. Eighth-grade science Use a variety of resources to locate, gather and organize potential sources of scientific information to answer questions. For example, students might answer the following question: How does the range of sounds that humans can hear compare with the range of sounds that other animals can hear? Twelfth-grade social studies Develop and use a customized search to locate and select multimedia information about a public policy issue of local, national or global significance. Produce a Web page, digital video or podcast of the findings. For example, students might research multiple viewpoints on possible steps that can be taken to improve working conditions in underdeveloped countries, and produce a WebQuest for other students to use to better understand this problem. Technology literacy isn't an extra – and it’s not only about computers. But, it is resource-intensive. It requires more flexibility than traditional school schedules and culture tend to allow – such as time for students to work with expert mentors on extended independent inquiries. It also requires more money and more creative adults who collaborate to model the kinds of 21st-century skills they want students to acquire. Barriers to integrating technology literacy into classrooms include: Lack of accessible computers and digital tools Expense of online tools that support teaching and learning Lack of leadership and expertise to spearhead needed changes Unwillingness to promote teamwork and coalition building with local and global communities Lack of time and expertise to explore and understand available software Narrow definition of literacy as including only paper-based texts Lack of understanding of and confidence in the potential of the use of technology, especially in the early years of schooling These hurdles don’t need to block the way to helping students become the 21st-century learners they need to be. The suggestions in these TLAP professional development modules can help you change the way learning happens in your classroom. See the “Additional resources” link for a collection of some of the best ideas out there. Introduction to Technological Literacy Standards Briefings ITEA has prepared a new set of ten videos on one compact disk (CD) that does a great job of explaining the ITEA Standards for Technological Literacy (STL), Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy (AETL), the four Addenda publications to STL and AETL, and other topics relevant to the standards. These are called the Technological Literacy Standards Briefings. The videos on this CD are personal, one-on-one presentations by experienced education professionals that were developed for teacher candidates, practicing teachers, supervisors/administrators, curriculum specialists, or anyone who wants to learn more about standards-based resources or marketing programs. Perfect for the teacher educator, they bring well-known guest speakers—including ITEA staff and the ITEA Standards Specialists—right into your office or lecture hall! Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology, commonly called STL, and Advancing Excellence in Technological Literacy: Student Assessment, Professional Development, and Program Standards, commonly called AETL, are companion publications that together articulate* a complete set of technological literacy standards* and identify a vision* for developing a technologically literate citizenry. STL identifies content* necessary for K—12 students, including knowledge*, abilities, and the capacity to apply both to the real world. The standards in STL were built around a cognitive* base as well as a doing/activity* base. They include assessment* checkpoints at specific grade levels (K—2, 3—5, 6—8, and 9—12). STL articulates what needs to be taught in K—12 laboratory-classrooms* to enable all students to develop technological literacy. The goal* is to meet all of the standards through the benchmarks* which are included in STL. Standards are written statements about what is valued that can be used for making a judgment of quality. STL is NOT a curriculum. AETL identifies the means for the implementation* of STL in K—12 laboratory-classrooms. AETL contains three separate but interrelated sets of standards: student assessment* practices to be used by teachers, professional development* to assure effective* and continuous* in-service* and pre-service* education for teachers of technology, and detailed program* standards that delineate educational requirements used to promote the development of technological literacy. For information regarding the development of STL and AETL, visit Phase II and Phase III respectively in the TfAAP History section. When this page was archived (January 2006) STL had been translated into Finnish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and German. The translations could be viewed by visiting the web site of the relevant ITEA International Center. Links to the ITEA International Centers could be accessed by resting the cursor on the About ITEA link in the ITEA navigation on the left side of this page (near the top), and clicking the link labeled ITEA International Centers in the fly out menu. Abstract The practice of health care technology assessment involves ethical considerations in all of its varied functions and techniques. Ethical issues in technology assessment can be grouped into the broad categories of normative concepts, diagnosis, prevention and therapy, research and the advancement of knowledge, and allocation of resources. Moreover, the ethics of the assessment process itself must be evaluated in terms of the integrity of the project's goals, procedures, and effects, and evaluators’ open and self-critical acknowledgment of their purposes. As a relatively new field, technology assessment can benefit from using a variety of analytic approaches as it works to develop its own methods for evaluating ethical issues related to technology. Ethics in technology is a subfield of ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age. Some prominent works of philosopher Hans Jonas are devoted to ethics of technology. It is often held that technology itself is incapable of possessing moral or ethical qualities, since "technology" is merely tool making. But many now believe that each piece of technology is endowed with and radiating ethical commitments all the time, given to it by those that made it, and those that decided how it must be made and used. Whether merely a lifeless amoral 'tool' or a solidified embodiment of human values "ethics of technology" refers to two basic subdivisions: The ethics involved in the development of new technology—whether it is always, never, or contextually right or wrong to invent and implement a technological innovation. The ethical questions that are exacerbated by the ways in which technology extends or curtails the power of individuals—how standard ethical questions are changed by the new powers. In the former case, ethics of such things as computer security and computer viruses asks whether the very act of innovation is an ethically right or wrong act. Similarly, does a scientist have an ethical obligation to produce or fail to produce a nuclear weapon? What are the ethical questions surrounding the production of technologies that waste or conserve energy and resources? What are the ethical questions surrounding the production of new manufacturing processes that might inhibit employment, or might inflict suffering in the third world? In the latter case, the ethics of technology quickly break down into the ethics of various human endeavors as they are altered by new technologies. For example, bioethics is now largely consumed with questions that have been exacerbated by the new life-preserving technologies, new cloning technologies, and new technologies for implantation. In law, the right of privacy is being continually attenuated by the emergence of new forms of surveillance and anonymity. The old ethical questions of privacy and free speech are given new shape and urgency in an Internet age. Such tracing devices as RFID, biometric analysis and identification, genetic screening, all take old ethical questions and amplify their significance.